The distance running tandem for the Winder-Barrow High School Lady Bulldoggs competed on the big stage last week in Albany at the state track meet.

Whitley Kennedy, Amanda Cope and Caitlin Connell each completed their 2012 seasons with quality showings at the AAAA state meet. Cope (11:46.94) was 11th in the 3,200-meter run while teammate Connell was 13th (11:52.54) in the event. Connell has now completed her standout WBHS career and will run for Kennesaw State next season.

Kennedy, competing in the 800-meter dash, was 10th in the event in 2:24.03. She was less than three seconds from eighth place, which was needed to reach the finals.

In addition, Winder-Barrow’s Delorean Itabiyi competed in the discus and earned 15th place. Itabiyi had a throw of 100-13 in Albany.

“I have known Delorean since she was in seventh grade and always knew that she would be an excellent thrower, said WBHS co-track coach Michael Lofton. “I am extremely proud of her visits to the state meet over the past few years.”

Lofton was also pleased with how his long distance runners competed during the state meet in Albany.

“Whitley had a great run,” Lofton said. “She has had a tremendous season and has really learned how to run the 800-meter race. At state, she was placed in the fastest heat and this threw off her pacing a little, she placed 5th in her heat. The girls from her heat that advanced to the finals placed first, second and third. Whitley is a junior and this was her first appearance at state. Nerves played a factor in her performance this year but next year she will not have this problem.”

And then there was Cope and Connell, who have made names for themselves in the longer distance runs.

“Amanda has had a great high school track career,” Lofton said. “She has been to the state meet all four years. Due to the sectionals being introduced this year it made this accomplishment much harder. We knew that Amanda would have to drop her time drastically to get on the podium and she gave it every effort. Her time did come down and she advanced from the 13th seed to the 11th overall. This is a great accomplishment given the level of talent at the state meet this year.”

Connell was competing at state for the first time in 2012.

“She has really developed her running skills this year,” Lofton said. “She has stayed healthy and has shown improvement in her racing all year long. At regional’s, she was determined to run with Amanda and fight for the top spots. At sectionals she knew she would have to run a great race to make it to state and she did. At state she was seeded 14th and ran a personal record to move up to the 13th overall position. This was a real learning experience for her and she will be determined to move up even further next year.”

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